


The Further Adventures of Jake the Yeerk-Killer

by cardassianfamilyvalues



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Genre: Book 54: The Beginning, Character Study
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:08:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27426955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cardassianfamilyvalues/pseuds/cardassianfamilyvalues
Summary: Jake learns what it's like to be the hero of the human race.
Relationships: Jake Berenson & Marco, background Jake/Cassie
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

Jake was standing in the middle of the ballroom, his head swimming. Georgetown, DC. Get-together of Washington big-wigs, the brass, blah blah blah. All those goddamn useless adults. His tie felt like it was closing in around his neck.

Jake downed a third whiskey and soda. It went down really smooth. _Damn, I’ve gotten really good at drinking. That barely stung._

“Hello, young man!” A senator had materialized in front of him. Or was it a—house? Houser? What did you call it again when somebody was in the House?

“Representative Peter Howsgoose. New York fourth, Military Appropriations committee vice-chair. An honor to meet you.”

“Hi,” Jake said.

Awkward silence.

“My name is Jake. Jake Berenson.”

“Well I know that, young man! You need no introduction. I own you my personal thanks. The guy I lost the primary to turned out to be a Yeerk-Controller. Well, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how I won the primary this time around!”

“Human-Controller,” Jake said.

“I’m sorry?”

“Human-Controller. You say the species that’s controlled. A Yeerk-Controller would be a Yeerk controlled by another Yeerk. If that’s even possible.” He giggled, imaging one Yeerk slithering into another one. Like stuffing a hot dog.

“Well, I bow to the expert.”

Howsgoose was shoved aside by a lady in a suit. “Mr. Berenson—an honor, just a profound honor to meet you—I’m with NASA, if I could steal just two seconds of your time—”

“I have to go outside for a bit,” Jake burst out. He didn’t look back to see the adults’ pitying-confused-disappointed faces. Just pushed his way out into the dark, humid night.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t sulk in private, because he bumped into some girl, probably a year or two older. If age even meant anything anymore. She looked like a senior. She was wearing one of those gaudy prom dresses and sucking on a cigarette.

“Oh, sorry—”

“Jesus, dude, watch where you’re—oh my God, you’re—sorry, no big deal—”

“No, it’s fine,” Jake said. “You don’t have to apologize. I did bump into you, after all.”

“I’m Mary,” she said. “Boring name, right?”

“And what brings you here, Mary?”

“My dad’s a general. Two stars. Never been in combat since, like, Grenada. Lame, right?”

_Who or what the hell is Grenada?_ “Wasn’t he uh, just in a war?”

“Oh yeah, I mean, but that doesn’t count. He was behind a desk. You guys did all the work.”

Jake must have looked dubious, because she said, “You know that, right?”

“That’s not really true,” Jake said. “There were all the soldiers. And the disabled kids. And the Hork-Bajir.”

“How modest,” she said, with an almost-nasty undercurrent to her voice. She was very blonde, and in that specific moment she reminded him of Taylor.

“My grand-dad was in the military,” Jake offered.

“Yeah, yours and everybody’s,” Mary said. “Oh, I’m being rude—do you mind if I smoke? Do you wanna bum one off me?”

“No, I don’t mind,” Jake said, and then, feeling profoundly dizzy, “yeah, sure. I mean, I’ll take one.”

She lit it up for hm. “No, no—you gotta breathe in, man. Inhale. Like Clinton said he didn’t, remember?”

He took the cigarette with two fingers like he’d seen in movies, inhaled obediently, and immediately started coughing.

“Jeez, this your first time?”

“Uh—yeah. Obviously.”

“You’re never even smoked pot? Aren’t you from San Francisco?”

“San Diego, actually.”

“So how’d you take the edge off? Alcohol?” “No,” Jake said, taking a smaller, more controlled inhale. “I was a good boy.”

“Fuck, dude. You need some antidepressants, at least. Or a Xanax. Here, I’ve got one in my purse.”

“No, I’m fine,” he said. He took another puff. “This tastes like war.”

“Wait, how?”

“Oh, I dunno. I can’t explain it. The smoke, I guess.” The mosquitoes were starting to bite. _I used to be a mosquito._ “Damn, the weather here sucks.”

“I know, right? God, I wish I lived in San Francisco. D.C. blows.”

_I’m from San Diego. I just said that._ “I should—I should go back inside.”

“Yeah, okay. I mean—I’m not trying to hit on you, by the way. If it’s making you uncomfortable. I know you’re dating that black girl.”

“That’s a rude way to refer to somebody, and her name is Cassie,” Jake said, and went back inside.


	2. Chapter 2

Jake was staring blankly at his computer, trying to think of something else to write. He had just gotten up to the David part of his memoir. What was there to say? _David was a rat, as it turned out. Then we made him an actual rat. And oh by the way, your martyr, Rachel? She killed him. I didn’t have the guts to do it myself._

He heard the doorbell chime. Fuck. I don’t have time for this. He hadn’t spoken to anyone outside the house in a few days. His parents had hovered around him, occasionally offering him food, unsure of what to say.

The someone at the door was jamming the doorbell over and over. Oh, of course. He sighed, walked over the trash he’d let accumulate on his floor, and opened the door. “Hi, Marco.”

“Jake the Great! What’s up?”

“I dunno ….. the usual.”

“Articulate as always. What’s new with me, is I got this snazzy new Ferrari.”

Jake looked down the driveway to see the shining red sportscar. “Didn’t you just get a new Ferrari?”

“That was the _old_ new Ferrari, man. This is the _new_ new Ferrari. State-of-the-art blend of Andalite technology and Italy’s finest. Wanna go for a drive?”

“I don’t really have time right now. I’m working on the book.”

“The book can wait. I didn’t drive all the way down from my palatial Santa Barbara estate to have my best friend ghost me like this.”

“Fine, fine, fine…”

After careening down several crowded city streets and several more twisting highways, Marco brought the car to a screeching halt at the edge of a canyon outside of town.

“Nice ride, huh? What do you think?”

“I think you still can’t fuckin' drive, man.”

“Hey, I’ve gotten much better. Barely grazed that stop sign. And that rabbit was smart enough to run away in time.” He dug around in the back, cracked open a beer, and handed another one to Jake.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? You driving sober is already worse than most people driving drunk.”

“Am I driving? Am I driving right now?” Marco tossed his hands around dramatically. “Nope. The car is stopped. Are you driving right now? No, Mr. MADD, you are not.”

“I’m fine for now,” Jake said, lighting up a cigarette.

“Hey man! Not in my new car! And you lecture me.”

“Tobacco doesn’t impair your ability to drive.”

“Yeah, it just impairs your ability to _breathe_.”

“So does being an Animorph,” Jake said, taking a drag. “It’s a miracle either of us are alive right now to indulge in risky activities, anyway.” He paused. “How much this set you back, anyway?”

That seemed like an adult thing to say. That’s what his dad had always said anytime anyone on the block got a new car. Cocked his head back, with his tongue in his cheek, give off an air of careful appraisal. _How much this set you back?_

“Oh, it’s a loan actually. No cost. The brands all love me. I did an ad for the new Mazda recently.” Marco put on a rakish, self-satisfied smile. “‘It’s the best in the galaxy. And I should know.’”

“Did you really like it?” Jake asked.

Marco shrugged. “I mean, it was fine. Whatever. It’s just ad copy.” Jake’s expression must have offended him, because he said, “Oh, get over yourself, Fearless Leader.”

“It’s just—I don’t know. I’m not judging you,” Jake lied. He was never a good liar, was he? _Except for the times when I was_. “I’m just saying. Is it really the best in the galaxy? I mean, that Iskoort planet had some excellent products.”

“Again—who cares, man? One brand makes money instead of the other. They’re all bastards anyway. It’s been going on since the beginning of the time. Rock ‘n roller cola wars. We didn’t start the fire, anyway. We just got burned.” He continued in a faux-causal tone, as if the thought had just randomly occurred, “Hey dude, by the way, you ever hear from Tobias?”

“Oh yeah,” Jake said. “I hear about him from all my bird friends. He’s got the best nest on the West Coast. All the lady birds flock to him.”

“Heh,” Marco said. “They literally flock.”

They cracked up.

“What about Cassie?”

“No—I’m gonna call her soon.”

“Jake, my man, you say that every time.”

“I get busy.”

“Doing what? Your grand total of zero media appearances a year?”

“I’m trying to write the book.”

“You say that every time too, and I have yet to see a page.”

“It sucks.”

“I don’t doubt that it sucks, but I still wanna read it. I can help you. Give it the ol’ Marco spin. I mean, I was funny and charming even back in the old days, but I’ve become an actual PR genius.”

Three hours later, Jake was four beers deep, Marco—seven? The sun was going down in a blaze of glory and their car was still perched on the cliff.

“It’s just, like, now that things have slowed down, I’ve had time to think about, like, myself and shit. And it’s like, what am I, like—I’m a bad person,” Jake said.

“You?” Marco said. “Never. Me, maybe, I’m a bad person. Not you.”

“No,” Jake said, with drunken stubbornness. “You’ve never been a bad person, Marco. I don’t know why you think that. I’m a bad person.” He felt tears gathering in his eyes. “I killed Rachel.”

“No, you didn’t, man,” Marco said, with the gentle tone he only used when things were really serious. “The Yeerks killed Rachel.”

“Oh, that’s bullshit, man. I made the decision. I killed her.”

“She risked her life. We all did. We all made that decision for ourselves.”

“Tom didn’t,” Jake said, and started to sob, uncontrolled. Marco sat, at a loss for something to do, and then drew him into a hug and patted him on the back. “Oh….c’mon, dude….” Jake relaxed into the hug for a moment. It felt nice. Then pushed away. “I’m being stupid.”

“Well—yeah, you are being stupid. You saved humanity. You don’t have anything to feel guilty about.”

“I killed a bunch of people.”

“Yeerks aren’t people.”

“I mean—they are, though.” “I know, man—don’t get like that. I was being flippant. They started it. It was self-defense, pure and simple. We didn’t go to their planet and invade them.”

“Anything the Andalites approved of that much can’t have been the right move.”

“Look, it’s not like I don’t know how you feel, okay, dude? I had to kill my mom.”

“Yeah, but she was fine,” Jake said, and started to sob again. “I’m all alone.”

“No, you’re not. I’m here.” Marco winced. “Saccharine, right? I feel like we’re on a Very Special Episode.” “Dude, our lives are a Very Special Episode.”

“Hey, speaking of—did you know Degrassi did a Yeerk invasion arc? And they didn’t even call my agent. What a ripoff, am I right?”

“How rude,” Jake said, letting Marco natter on about the Canadian television industry, feeling his head pound with a thousand unuttered, unspeakable thoughts.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope to finish post-war fics for all the Animorphs - I'm working on a Cassie-centric fic now.


End file.
